A FAMILY back home in Oxfordshire after a ruined holiday vowed to claim back the £4,000 cost of their trip after they contracted dysentery in the Dominican Republic.

Sue Edwardson, 47, from Sunningwell, near Abingdon, her partner Steve Bulley, 47, and son Alex, 17, were among 1,000 holidaymakers struck down with the bug at the four-star Bahia Principe in the Caribbean resort of San Juan.

The three of them were fine for the first week, but then contracted the illness and were confined to their rooms with sickness and diarrhoea from what is suspected to be amoebic dysentery.

Mrs Edwardson, from Long Furlong Road, and her family arrived back at Gatwick on Thursday but are still trying to shake off the symptoms. Mrs Edwardson said: "People were being sick on the plane and it looked like one person nearly had a heart attack."

Mr Bulley, a foreman at the county council's Drayton highways depot, said a Birmingham-based holidaymaker had taken everyone's name in the resort so that they could make a joint claim for compensation.

He added: "We feel we have more chance of getting full compensation if everyone acts as a group.

"Staff at the hotel knew about the bug in June so we should have been informed, but of course we weren't.

"I don't think we will be going abroad for a while. There are some great holiday destinations in the UK which get taken for granted - we might try the Lake District.

"We were desperate for sunshine but we only had a week before things went bad.

"Alex caught an ear infection from the pool and had to go to hospital. It was horrible."

Mrs Edwardson said she and Mr Bulley saved for the £3,000 holiday and estimated the total they spent was nearer £4,000 after they took into account medical and travel expenses.

"It cost US$300 (£148) for Alex to be in hospital with the ear infection and US$110 for my treatment," she added.

Have you endured a holiday from hell? Contact the newsdesk on 01865 425445.